Saturday, 14 June 2008

First time buyers - where are they?

Before the credit crunch, there weren't many first time buyers in the market; now there is even less. In April, mortgage lenders offered loans to just 18,500 new home owners - a fall of 35 percent compared to the same month last year.

Where did the first time buyers go? Anyone with half a brain cell knows that house prices in 12 months time will be significantly cheaper than today. Therefore, anyone with any sense has decided to wait out the crash. Mortgage lenders are also reluctant to give out loans. Again, this is good news since anyone wanting to buy a house right now must be stupid and therefore a very poor prospect for a bone-crushing loan.

So, the low number of first time buyers is good news; a sign that reality and common sense are finally returning to the UK housing market.

8 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I agree with all you write. Last time around (89- c. 95) sellers held on (nonsensically) until they could sell at prices nominally close to the peak of the bubble. Greed knows no limits! If that happens again, first time buyers will not be able to unstick the market for some years yet, maybe as many as eight or ten. B.